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Response to Charlottesville

August 14, 2017

We condemn in the strongest terms the white supremacist groups that gathered in Charlottesville, VA, over the weekend to promote racism, anti-Semitism, and other ideologies of bigotry. Our hearts go out to the family of Heather Heyer, the anti-hate demonstrator who was killed in what has been accurately characterized by the U.S. Attorney General as an act of domestic terrorism, and to the families of the two Virginia State Troopers killed in a helicopter crash as part of efforts to manage the events surrounding the white supremacists’ assault on Charlottesville.

History has taught the painful consequences of ignoring violent white supremacists who target Jews, members of the LGBT community and people of color. We stand with all political, religious, and community leaders of conscience to express revulsion at the actions and words of the white supremacist, neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic, homophobic and racist groups that converged in Charlottesville. Nothing less is appropriate for this moment in time. There is no moral equivalence between the proponents of hatred and bigotry and those who stand up to oppose them. We must work vigorously across communities to strengthen the vision of an America dedicated to diversity and equality, pluralism and mutual respect.

Rabbis Mordechai Liebling, ’85, and Malka Bina Klein,’04, joined with more than 50 other members of the clergy to protest the white supremacists. For their reflections, see: